


wanna hear your beating heart tonight

by aisu10



Category: Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)
Genre: BACK ON MY BULLSHIT, Breathplay, Cardiophilia, Choking, F/F, F/M, Heartbeat Kink, Heartbeats, Light Masochism, Light Sadism, Medical Examination, Multi, NO SEX HAPPENS, Playing Doctor, STEPPING ON BOYS, just kink, valerian keeps his space pants on
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-06 03:51:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11592357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aisu10/pseuds/aisu10
Summary: bubble invites valerian & laureline to hang out at the glam club and things get a little kinky when the nurse costume comes out.





	wanna hear your beating heart tonight

**Author's Note:**

> hello im ignoring canon [wrt bubble]!!! also you could literally just skip to the word "stethoscope" if you don't care about the setup & just wanna get to the sexy part ;) (lord knows thats what i do)

when she’d heard that valerian and laureline were going to be security escorts on alpha for the day, bubble had  _ insisted _ they drop by for a visit before they left the station. so as soon as they’re released they make their way down to the human sector and hang awkwardly near the glowing arrow that marks the entrance, waiting for bubble to meet them. fresh off their mission and still dressed in their sleek black space suits, the two agents stand out more than they blend in amongst the glittering crowds of paradise alley, making them nervous to enter alone. the approaching glamopod, in contrast, fits right in, adorned in luxurious pink furs and a smile that sparkles just as much as her surroundings. sensing their hesitation, bubble takes valerian by the hand and tugs him forward. "c'mon, don't be shy! i just wanna show you where i work."   
  
"i've already seen it," valerian says with a good-natured roll of his eyes as he begins to weave through the crowds after her, twisting and swaying to avoid pushing anyone with broad shoulders of his suit.   
  
"you haven't seen the back!" bubble replies.   
  
"i haven't seen the front  _ or  _ the back," laureline offers as she follows a few steps behind them. she’s taking her time absorbing all the sights, her bright eyes reflecting the glow of the neon lights. unlike valerian, she never got a chance to visit paradise alley when they were here on their last mission to alpha due to being  _ kidnapped. _

they come to a stop outside the same club valerian met bubble in, and the glamopod releases valerian’s hand and steps forward to introduce it with a flourish.   
  
"here we are! the glam club: under new management."    
  
she winks at valerian and he smiles. it was he who had put together an investigation into good old jolly and got him arrested for a multitude of unsavory business practices; he who had appealed to grant bubble a valid government id and ownership of the club. it's thanks to him -- and his mission to save laureline -- that he met and was able to help her. they’ve all three been friends ever since.   
  
now standing at valerian's side, laureline prompts, "well, show us inside!"   
  
bubble leads the way into the club. not much has changed since the jolly days. the ornate golden stage where bubble had first performed for valerian still stands in the center of the circular space, surrounded by red curtains that cover the walls on both sides. bubble saunters through the club, gesturing at each of its features.   
  
"here's the stage, the piano -- the vip chair, which i'm sure valerian remembers..."   
  
laureline cocks an eyebrow toward valerian and he grins and shrugs.   
  
bubble then walks to the left of the stage, a hand outstretched to drag her fingers along the red curtains. "and this -- this is where we do the  _ private performances." _ __  
  
she pulls the curtain aside to reveal a cozy, dimly-lit little room with its own private bar and a large couch in the center taking up most of the space. the couch is perfectly round, stacked with pillows and draped in sheets of deep red velvet that cascade over its sides onto the floor below. it looks  _ stupidly  _ comfortable, and valerian strides toward it immediately, teasing as he passes the girls: "are you two going to  _ perform _ for me?"   
  
"you wish," laureline scoffs, crossing her arms over her chest as she enters the small room and looks around.   
  
bubble laughs. "well, i do have some costumes backstage. want to try them on?"   
  
laureline whirls around to her with her lips parted in an open-mouthed smile. "of course i do." then she turns back to valerian and adds, "for  _ me. _ not for you."   
  
"of course." valerian rolls his eyes and sits himself down on the couch, smirking over at bubble. "i thought you didn't need costumes."   
  
"not all of my performers are as talented as i am," bubble tells him with a wink over her shoulder as she waltzes out of the room.   
  
"i think your confidence is rubbing off on her," laureline whispers to valerian before following the glamopod, trying not to look  _ too _ excited about playing dress-up. (how can she resist? the girl loves her clothes.) valerian sits back on the couch and waits for them to return, wondering exactly what they’re planning on doing once they've changed.   
  
laureline returns just a few minutes later and pulls back the curtains to reveal her new look.  _ "voilà!" _ __  
  
valerian's eyes widen as soon as they settle upon his partner. she's stripped her space suit down, replacing the armor with a sparkly dress that falls in loops around her legs. it's the kind of frilly flashy thing you'd expect to see in paradise alley, made modest with the addition of the skin-tight black undersuit that prevents it from revealing any skin besides her wrists. her hair's been pulled up and back and a more dramatic eyeshadow has been applied, with glitter at the corners of her lashes. giving an elegant little twirl, laureline asks,   
  
"what do you think? a candidate for our new uniforms?"   
  
trying not to  _ drool, _ valerian shuts his slack jaw and fumbles for a sarcastic reply to mask how utterly  _ in love _ with her he is.   
  
"yeah, totally, it's so... uh,  _ practical." _ __  
  
with an amused shake of her head, laureline steps forward and flicks valerian on the nose, then sits down next to him on the couch.   
  
"what about you, bubble? have something to show us?"   
  
stepping out from behind the curtain in the same fluffy pink getup she was wearing before, bubble gives a shrug.   
  
"i could show you all sorts of things. i'm a one-woman fashion show."   
  
"she really is," valerian mutters to laureline.   
  
smiling, laureline urges, "well, go on, show me some of your looks!"   
  
"if you  _ insist,"  _ bubble replies bashfully, obviously quite flattered by laureline's interest in her craft. slowly she turns around and begins to shrug off her furs. as they fall to the ground her entire outfit changes in a single wave of blue, putting her back into the skimpy black outfit valerian first met her in. she turns back to face them, strikes a pose, and runs a hand down the front of her body, pulling a different outfit on in the same manner as before. in a miniature version of her regular routine she switches from look to look, some futuristic, some retro, moving closer and closer to the couch until finally she tries on the sexy nurse costume she'd shown valerian on his first visit.   
  
"oh, i like this one," says laureline, a look that can only be described as  _ sly _ crossing her face. she leans forward and tugs on the stethoscope around bubble's neck, asking,   
  
"does this really work?"   
  
"if i couldn't make it work, would i really be the best performer in the universe?" bubble replies. proudly she hands the stethoscope over to laureline, who inspects it in awe. it looks for all the world like a regular stethoscope, a now-obsolete contraption of metal and rubber used to listen to the inner workings of human beings before machines were invented to do it for them. but she knows it’s just a very skilled illusion, a piece of bubble’s own amorphous body detached and formed into a perfect replica.   
  
"i think we should try it out," laureline says, tapping thoughtfully on the diaphragm with her forefinger. her gaze then roams over to valerian, sitting unwittingly beside her, and a mischievous grin crosses her face.   
  
"on  _ him." _ __  
  
in an almost  _ comical _ double-take, valerian’s brows shoot up so high they nearly disappear beneath his bangs. “really?”   
  
laureline laughs. "why not? we deserve to have a little fun, don't we? today was so  _ boring." _   
  
“but -- right here? right now?”   
  
"that’s what this place is for," bubble says with a smirk and a shrug as she draws the curtains to close them off from the rest of the club.   
  
valerian looks dumbfounded, mouth agape and gaze flicking wildly between the two of them. laureline places her hand on the left side of his chest, flattening it over the heart she knows must already be pounding underneath his protective armor.   
  
"c'mon, valerian,” she teases, “you said your heart belongs to me, didn't you?"   
  
a dopey romantic look crosses valerian’s features as if by reflex, and with a solemn nod and a husky tone he agrees,   
  
“it does.”   
  
tracing a circle over his chest with curled lips, laureline continues,  _ "then, _ why don't you let nurse bubble and i give it a check-up?"   
  
valerian’s mouth gapes again. he must be dreaming.   
  
still standing over by the curtains, bubble asks, timidly, "you want me to stay?"   
  
"of course i do, bubble,” laureline insists, then gives her a playful wink. “you're the  _ expert." _   
  
valerian finally manages to blink the surprise out of his eyes and shrugs his shoulders, dopey grin returning.   
  
"uh, i guess we can mess around a little."   
  
"good!” laureline says, and gives valerian’s chest a firm push. “lay down."   
  
the order is just forceful enough to bring a slight blush to valerian’s cheeks and he follows it with all the obedience of a good soldier, lying back on the velvet-draped couch. laureline slides up next to him, legs crossed and hanging over the edge as she gazes down at him with her most charming smile -- the one that always makes valerian’s heart flutter. soon she’ll know just how much. grin turning more nervous at the thought, valerian shifts around a little, the grooves in his armored legs catching against the fabric beneath him. it feels almost  _ disrespectful _ to be wearing boots on such luxurious furniture. looking down at his space suit and then back up at laureline, he asks,   
  
"shouldn't i get into something a little more... comfortable?"   
  
"you think i just have mens' clothes lying around?" bubble giggles as she strides across the room to join them, settling down on the other side of the couch. "sorry, soldier-boy."   
  
valerian shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly. “i mean, i don’t have to wear  _ anything.” _ __  
  
rolling her eyes and running her palm down the smooth front of his torso, laureline tells him, "just take your armor off so we can hear you better."   
  
"yes ma'am..."   
  
he doesn’t need to be told twice to  _ undress.  _ in an instant valerian disconnects his outer armor and wriggles himself out of it with a little help from laureline, who tosses the whole thing to the side as soon as he’s free. with his torso now clothed in just his ridged, skin-tight undershirt, he settles back down with his arms crossed behind his head, waggling his eyebrows, playing it  _ cool  _ as always.   
  
“ready when you are,  _ docs.” _ __  
  
_ "first," _ laureline says, "we're going to make sure  _ alex _ isn't here to monitor you."   
  
she leans forward and unzips the collar of valerian's undershirt, then plucks the communicator from the skin of his neck and sets it off to the side. the computer normally tracks their vitals along with virtually everything else they are doing, seeing, and thinking. but for this little game, she wants to have full control of who gets to  _ listen in _ on her partner.   
  
"alright. now you're all ours."   
  
as valerian watches with increasing anticipation, laureline slips the stethoscope into her ears, slowly sliding her fingers down the rubbery tube to grasp the double-sided metal disc at the end of it and place it on valerian's chest. his heartbeat reaches her ears instantly, already thumping at an elevated pace, and her lips break into a smile. she's only ever seen his heart rate on a screen or heard it muffled beneath his skin when they've hugged or laid together. never has it been this clear in her ears, or this  _ quick. _ she'll admit now that her change of clothes maybe  _ was _ a little bit for him after all -- to  _ fluster him.  _ and suddenly, that's all she wants to do.    
  
"hmm," laureline muses, "sounds a little  _ fast." _ __  
  
embarrassed, valerian shifts, uncrossing his arms so he can lay them at his sides instead. he hadn't counted on how vulnerable this would make him feel -- or how  _ turned on _ he'd be by the fact that laureline now knows  _ just _ how much power she has over him.   
  
"what do you think, bubble?"   
  
laureline passes the stethoscope back to the glamopod, who chuckles when the jumping beat reaches her ears.   
  
"definitely fast. i wonder why..." she and laureline exchange knowing glances and valerian swallows nervously. bubble hears the skip in his heartbeat.   
  
"here, let me try," laureline says. "i think i have an idea that'll  _ really _ get him going." bubble hands her the headset of the stethoscope and she slips it on to get another earful of valerian's already-uneven heartbeat, which only gets more jagged as she climbs over him and eases a knee between his thighs.   
  
"w-wait,  _ what -- " _ __  
  
before he can protest or even  _ process _ what she's planning to do, laureline catches him off guard with a devious grin and simultaneously digs her knee into his padded crotch, hard. a galaxy of stars bursts through his vision and his heartbeat goes wild, losing all rhythm as it bangs against his ribcage and laureline's eardrums. laureline gives a delighted gasp and presses the diaphragm harder into his chest, feeling his heart pushing back against it from beneath his bones.   
  
bubble watches on in shock that quickly melts into amused awe at the two of them. "he likes that?" she asks, bewildered. "we could have played with my  _ whip _ instead."   
  
_ "n --" _ valerian begins to argue but stops to inhale sharply through his nostrils as laureline presses harder into him. a hot rush of pain surges up his spine and then back down to settle deep in his already-boiling stomach. heart tripping over a beat and stumbling into an uneven staccato, he continues in a meek tone slightly elevated in pitch.  _ "-- no whip! _ stethoscope's fine, the stethoscope is _ fine." _ __  
  
"he thinks he's tough," laureline coos in a voice both mocking and endeared, stroking his reddened cheek with her free hand.   
  
"i  _ am _ tough," valerian whimpers, leaning needily into her touch even as she draws it away.   
  
"yeah you are," she teases, "tough as a  _ rock." _ she leans herself forward to press more of her weight into him, pleased with the resistance she finds. he's lucky she didn't make him take off the rest of his armor, or this would have been  _ much _ more painful. valerian gives a shuddery moan, eyes rolling back in his skull, and bubble giggles in a manner that suits her name as she nudges laureline's shoulder with her own.    
  
"how's he sound?"   
  
"like the bass drum of the universe's _ worst  _ marching band," laureline laughs, "no rhythm at all. want a listen?"   
  
"of course," bubble purrs and drapes herself over valerian as laureline leans back to allow her access to him, sure to keep her knee set firmly between his legs. bubble takes the stethoscope and moves it lazily around his chest as it heaves for breath, listening to his heart pound from every angle, testing each overworking valve and straining set of strings.   
  
"i think he has arrhythmia," bubble tells laureline, her ‘official’ diagnosis dissolving into more giggles as she taps playfully on the diaphragm.   
  
"i think you're  _ giving me _ arrhythmia," valerian complains gruffly, but the blush on his cheeks only glows brighter and brighter with each pump of blood.   
  
"shhh, we're going to make you all better," laureline croons with a smile, leaning back in alongside bubble to run a finger over his parted lips and up the side of jaw. she stops when she feels the jump of his artery in the side of his neck mimicking the throbbing she feels against her knee, her lips at first pursing thoughtfully before twisting mischievously upward. valerian catches the recognition in her eyes, realizing exactly what she has, and gulps nervously, his adam's apple jerking beneath her touch as she slides her palm against his throat and begins to stroke his pulse from jaw to collarbone with her thumb.    
  
noticing the change in his rhythm, bubble says, "i don't think he trusts us."   
  
laureline rolls her eyes playfully before settling them, half lidded, upon his blown-out blues. "oh, come on, valerian. you trust us, don't you?"   
  
valerian can't find it in him to speak as laureline ever-so-slowly increases the pressure on his groin, this time coupled with a tightening grip around his throat. his pulse hammers against both forceful touches, thudding in his chest in between. she leans closer, mouth nearly brushing his as she uses her thumb and forefinger to restrict the rapid flow of blood to his brain.   
  
"you trust  _ me, _ don't you?"   
  
a strangled noise between a gasp and a whine escapes his trembling lips and laureline swallows it with her own, forcing a deep kiss upon a mouth that would be receptive if valerian wasn't already half-crazed from pleasurable pain and a distinct lack of oxygen. all he can really do is pant and moan into her, tilting his hips toward her leg to increase the pressure himself and send his heart into ecstatic overdrive.    
  
"careful," bubble warns, though her tone is far more excited than concerned, "or we might have to  _ revive _ him."    
  
she taps again on the diaphragm, which jumps visibly beneath her fingers with each labored beat of valerian's heart.   
  
"mm, you'd  _ like _ that, wouldn't you?" laureline teases as she lifts her face from valerian's, sitting up again so she can get a better look at his dizzy, unfocused gaze, at the deepening color of his skin.   
  
"to be  _ stopped --" _ __  
  
her hand squeezes tightly around his throat, restricting air as well as blood flow for one overwhelming moment in which his eyes widen and his lips flounder uselessly.   
  
"-- and  _ started."  _   
  
her grip eases again and allows a gasping breath to inflate his lungs once more and fuel his frantic heart. she kisses him again, then, making sure he doesn't have a chance to recover too much. this time he manages to reciprocate, moving his lips against hers sloppily and desperately, hands twitching and gripping for purchase on the velvet sheets beneath him. his heart seems to have given up on all attempts to keep a rhythm and now just crashes haphazardly against his sternum and bubble's stethoscope and laureline's fingers and knee, fleeting and uncontrollable.   
  
"...i'm so glad i finally got to use this thing," bubble muses softly as she watches them, her own voice barely audible above the clamor of valerian's heart.   
  
"we should probably stop before he  __ bursts," laureline murmurs into valerian's lips between kisses, moving hers then to his cheek and down the side of his jaw, hand roaming down to his collar so she can make out with his carotid pulse. valerian shudders under her touch, swallowing again now that his throat is no longer restrained. his heart begins to slow down when she does, pulse calming under her increasingly lazy kisses.  

bubble slips the stethoscope off of valerian's heart, allowing laureline's hand to cover it instead while she pulls her earpieces out and slowly rises from the couch. laureline moves to occupy the space she’s vacated, finally sliding her leg out from between valerian’s and straddling his hips instead, reveling in the feeling of his lungs deflating beneath her in a sigh of relief. with a pleased smile on her face, bubble slips out of the room and draws the curtains behind her, giving the pair some privacy. for the rest of the evening, it’ll just be valerian, laureline, and valerian's settling heart, beating in the palm of his partner’s hand.

 


End file.
